The Programme, week 4: Simon Manley

Sunday 30 September 2001 00:00 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Things started going pretty badly at the beginning of the week as the weather deteriorated. In the cold and damp weather I had absolutely no motivation to go out in the park. The temptation to go to the pub and get lashed finally overcame me when I was away for the weekend in Ireland. Things took quite a nosedive as The Programme was replaced by Guinness for the weekend. But after a couple days of soul searching and guilt I joined a gym - I've been four times since the beginning of the week.

Despite the early setback I've been able to increase the distances I run. I can now do 30 mins of intensive cardiovascular work, whereas I could only do 20 before. The number of sit-ups I can do has increased from 60 to 80 and press-ups from 35 to 45. I don't think I've toned up massively but am looking a little trimmer. In terms of weight, I'm not worried if I stay at 11 stone. As long as I'm replacing fat with muscle I don't mind if it goes up by the end of The Programme.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in